The ROTC
ONE has to read between the lines, but there were just so many of them in the first State of the Nation Address (Sona) of President Rodrigo Duterte. One of those--“Let us also strengthen our ROTC (Reserve Officers' Training Corps) program to instill love of country and good citizenship”--may have been overshadowed by urgent issues, as well as the more colorful adlibs of the President. Yet, the President didn't just insert those lines for nothing. In a statement, he said that the ROTC can help “build up a credible self- defence force” for the country. He further said that, “While we expect the US to come to our aid if attacked by a foreign force, the country must also be self-reliant. And to build up a credible self-defense force, the country must restore the ROTC that was once part of the college curriculum.”
Due to the death of a University of Santo Tomas student who exposed corruption in the program in 2001, ROTC became voluntary as a component of the National Service Training Program by virtue of Republic Act 9163. Since then both male and female college students must enroll for two semesters (or one year) in one of the three programs, namely Civic Welfare Training Service, Literacy Training Service and ROTC.
Without officially being declared, a state of war persists in the Philippines heightened by the proliferation of drugs at an intolerable level. For years, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has been fighting the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, the New People's Army and the Muslim separatists. And if China remains defiant to the arbitral tribunal ruling favoring the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute, then the AFP has another front to defend.
Can the 125,000-strong military defend the sovereignty and territories of the Philippines if China opts to wage a war? The AFP has not even stopped internal threats, what more with the threat of the superior military might of China? I can only agree with President Duterte that we cannot totally rely on foreign forces of friendly states to help us in time of need. We need to stand on our own with fighters equipped and ready to defend the nation. Today, 131,000 reservists can augment the regular force; but still that is small in proportion to the 100 million population
Two small countries can serve as models: South Korea and Israel. When a Korean male reaches legal age, he is expected to take the mandatory military service for no less than 21 months. Failure to comply would mean imprisonment. Israel practices conscription of all male and female at age 18 years. Men serve for 3 years, while women for 2 years. These countries take national security seriously, and so must the Philippines.
We must put our youths to task in defending the Motherland, and to do so requires them to carry guns and shoot, and if need be, die for the country. The only route is through ROTC and if we go a step farther, mandatory military service for both men and women. Change is coming, and this could be one of those.